


until golden brown and fluffy

by minijhi



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Bread, Dogs, Gen, M/M, Magical Realism, nonsensical storytime, subaek is minor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-22
Updated: 2020-01-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:54:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22355980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minijhi/pseuds/minijhi
Summary: With a house full of pets to choose from, catching the eye of the local dog enthusiast shouldn’t be very difficult. But, a whole parade of dogs later, it’s a loaf of bread that finally captures Junmyeon’s attention.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Kim Junmyeon | Suho
Comments: 29
Kudos: 81





	until golden brown and fluffy

**Author's Note:**

> hello, it’s been awhile! i meant to post a different thing last week, but i haven’t been able to concentrate on it since, and i came across this nearly-finished but abandoned fic. i think this story is too strange, and that’s coming from me, but hopefully it’ll give someone a few minutes of happiness.
> 
> we’re a bit past that now and it feels silly to say this, but i really hope everyone has a kind new year!

“Sehun, my one and only, favourite dongsaeng and bestest roommate,” Baekhyun preludes, socked feet sneaking into Sehun’s bedroom at midnight.

Sehun props himself up on his elbows, brows raising, wrinkling the face mask layered neatly over his skin. He holds up a finger, and Baekhyun falls silent immediately, stilling as if spelled.

After a few seconds of tapping on his phone, Sehun turns the screen to face Baekhyun so he can see the timer counting down the remaining eight minutes until the mask comes off. Baekhyun climbs onto the end of the bed, waiting patiently.

“What do you want from me?” Sehun asks, seven minutes later, having taken pity on Baekhyun. The cold mask is relocated to Sehun’s exposed knee.

“May I borrow your dog?” Baekhyun asks hopefully.

∪ 'ㅅ' ∪

Baekhyun doesn’t make a habit of borrowing other people’s dogs. He doesn’t usually walk dogs with ulterior motives either— walking a cute dog in a nice park is generally the gift itself.

But not today. Today, Vivi is going to help Baekhyun score a date, and all he has to do is get a good walk in and look as cute as he always does.

Baekhyun first spotted his prospective date three days ago, sitting by the fountain in a crisp white button-up, talking interestedly to a jogging couple with a chihuahua. Over the next hour, Baekhyun watched as he talked to numerous other passerbys, easygoing and cheerful, and pet at least half a dozen dogs.

With his face pressed to the bakery window, Baekhyun had tried to wait long enough to see if a significant other would join him, but then Kyungsoo had shown up and stabbed Baekhyun in the back with a breadstick.

“If you’re not going to work, get out and stop crowding my kitchen.”

By the time Baekhyun leaves the bakery, a whole thirty minutes before his shift ends, the man had gone.

Except, he was back again the next afternoon in an even stiffer shirt than before, and Baekhyun had a running tally of fourteen puppies on the refrigerator notepad before Kyungsoo chased him out to wait tables.

Which leads Baekhyun to today, with an day-off from work and a cute dog on a leash. Baekhyun is ready to be one of those numbers.

And maybe score a number of his own.

∪ 'ㅅ' ∪

But Vivi is impossible to walk and Baekhyun is suffering. Vivi is a familiar, and he’s supposed to be _familiar_ with the plight of humankind, but he trudges on at his own pace, dragging Baekhyun with him a mile in the wrong direction.

“Please come and retrieve your dog,” Baekhyun begs Sehun on the phone, two hours into a walk that has given him only a renewed sense of patience and slightly bruised palms.

“Well, if Vivi doesn’t want to take you there maybe it’s a sign,” Sehun says, picking up the leash and urging Vivi along. Baekhyun’s appeased to find that it isn’t any easier for Sehun than it was for him.

“Sign of what?”

“That it’s not meant to be,” Sehun says. He snaps his fingers and Vivi pointedly ignores him, climbing into a flowerbed to lie down. “You know, how most animals can sense things that people can’t. He might have saved your life today. Didn’t you, my smart boy? Did you sense danger and lead Baekhyunnie-hyung away from it?” Sehun coos, finally scooping Vivi out of the flowerbed and carrying him in his arms.

∪ 'ㅅ' ∪

“If Toben’s willing to go with you, it can’t be all bad,” Chanyeol says, a few days later. “Remember to give him water and to bring all his toys with you, he’ll get restless if he can’t play with Mr. Frog.”

Baekhyun nods, hefting the heavy bag further up his shoulder. At this point, he’s carrying more dog toys than he is actual dog, but he’s not going to complain.

Toben is the perfect puppy, or more accurately, the perfect size for a puppy. Despite his insistent wriggling, Baekhyun doesn’t let go, and manages to carry him halfway through the park. He spots the back of the man’s head at his usual spot by the fountain and places Toben on the floor, ready for his starring role in Baekhyun’s future.

Toben bolts, the thin leash slipping out of Baekhyun’s hands and sending the bag of toys tumbling to the ground.

Toben zips right past the fountain and to the hot dog stand, circles around it thrice and zooms back to the fountain again, wagging his tail excitedly in front of the waterworks.

The man smiles at Toben, and Baekhyun, a good five feet away, trips over a squeaky Mr. Frog. Toben dashes away from the smiling man— _no, Tobennie, why_ — seizes the toy from under Baekhyun’s foot and vanishes into the bushes, all in the blink of an eye.

By the time Baekhyun extracts Toben from the bush, his arms are covered in scratches and the dog has a new coat of leaves. Baekhyun picks each leaf off and gives him a soft dusting with his sleeve. Gently, he pushes Toben towards the fountain again, this time with the leash firmly in his hands.

Toben leads the way cheerfully, and Baekhyun holds his breath as they near the fountain. He has a cute dog and a pick-up line ready. Any time now, the man’s going to call out to him like he did all the others before Baekhyun—

Any second now.

Three…

Two…

One…

One…

One…

One…

One…

Baekhyun arrives at the other end of the park, and Toben, clearly sensing that his duty is done, takes off once more, nearly ripping the leash from Baekhyun’s dejected hands. Baekhyun holds on just in time, and nearly collides with a girl walking her own, very well-behaved collie. Baekhyun quickly sidesteps them both, trips over his own foot, and pretends that he meant to crouch down beside Toben to pet him.

“Did he see us? Was he looking?” Baekhyun whispers.

He busies himself with making sure Toben is well-watered, letting several minutes pass before he’s brave enough to look up towards the fountain. The man is talking to a girl with a golden retriever.

“He might’ve missed you the first time,” Baekhyun says. A golden retriever is a very big dog, and Toben is a very small one.

That’s okay. They can try again.

“What do you say, Tobennie? Shall we give it another go?”

Toben doesn’t mind. He sprints past the fountain another seven times, Baekhyun practically jogging to keep up, and Baekhyun feels his face flush from the embarrassment. He must be creating a spectacle of himself, even though the actual person he wants to notice him hasn’t even looked over.

“Maybe the stars aren’t right today,” Baekhyun sighs, running his fingers through Toben’s fur. Baekhyun’s embarrassed himself enough for one day. He fishes into the bag of toys.

Toben trots home happily with Mr. Frog in his mouth, and Baekhyun misses the curious pair of eyes that follow them out the park.

∪ 'ㅅ' ∪

Two attempts down, Baekhyun eyes Tan thoughtfully at the dinner table, and spends the rest of the night looking up spells that can temporarily transform cats into dogs.

“What are you looking at?” Jongdae asks, lowering himself onto the couch beside Baekhyun, with no regard for personal space. Of course, he also proceeds to read the display of Baekhyun’s screen without asking.

“Don’t tell Minseok—” Baekhyun says hurriedly.

“Don’t tell Minseok what?” Comes a voice from the doorway.

Baekhyun ends up foiling his own plans.

∪ 'ㅅ' ∪

But—

“I found a different spell,” Baekhyun begins the next morning, and Chanyeol, having witnessed the consequences of last night’s endeavors, without waiting to hear the rest, lets out a tiny “oh no.”

“Don’t be rude,” Sehun says, while Baekhyun preens, “Let’s hear him out before turning him down.”

Baekhyun drops his head onto the table, making Chanyeol’s cutlery jump.

“Did someone buy bread last night? I was sure we didn’t have any,” Minseok says, poking his head out from the kitchen.

“Don’t eat that!” Baekhyun shrieks, diving over and holding both hands over the four-by-four bag of buns protectively. He carries it back to the table and places it in front of him.

“What are you up to now?” Minseok asks in resignation.

“I found a spell that can turn bread into dogs,” Baekhyun says, and winces shortly after. That sounded a lot more ridiculous out loud than it had in his head. “It was a licensed spell and everything, I found it recommended on the university page,” Baekhyun adds in his defense.

“So, you’re going to wave your hands around and that’s going to become a dog?” Sehun asks with interest. “Make it quick, I have to leave in ten minutes.”

“Um.” Baekhyun wrings his hands, not expecting to have an audience from the very start. He pulls up the diagram on his phone while everyone at the table watches expectantly. It’s said that a chalk circle helps, but Baekhyun hadn’t been able to find any chalk during his early morning grocery store run, so some yolky runes must suffice.

He covers the buns with a dishcloth to contain the magic, closes his eyes and begins the incantation.

Chanyeol’s shocked gasp pulls him out of his trance, and Baekhyun finishes the spell, heartbeat picking up. His eyes fly open.

On the table are sixteen buns with short legs and crooked ears, lying on their sides. It also looks like Baekhyun has somehow given them chocolate filling.

“Yum,” Sehun says.

“What was that impressed noise for?” Baekhyun asks Chanyeol accusingly.

“Well, they’re kind of cute,” Chanyeol says.

“If you were going to run out at three a.m. to pick up some bread for your weird experiment, couldn’t you have gotten some for us as well?” Minseok asks, and flicks Baekhyun on the forehead.

“You can eat them,” Baekhyun relents, “I’ll do more research.”

∪ 'ㅅ' ∪

It’s a week before Baekhyun manages to animate his bread-dog, and even then the baguette is a bust, which is a shame, because for all of a minute it’s one of the cutest dogs Baekhyun has ever seen, a sausage-y dog with short legs.

“I think you’re going about this the wrong way,” Minseok advises, stirring his coffee as he watches Baekhyun lift the tea towel and peek underneath it, hoping for a dog.

Minseok scans the diagram while he drinks, and looks at the loaf of bread.

“You’re doing it wrong,” Minseok says, tapping Baekhyun’s wrist. “You have to relax here, like this.” They try it again, Minseok’s hand holding Baekhyun’s wrist steady. Minseok’s presence over his shoulder reminds Baekhyun of the old university days, when Minseok was the terrifying teaching assistant instead of one of his best friends, and it makes him smile.

“Are you going to let me stand here forever or are you planning do something?” Minseok asks. Baekhyun laughs.

“Just being sentimental, Minseokkie,” Baekhyun says. He knows Minseok is rolling his eyes, but he squares his shoulders and focuses on the cloth in front of him. The magic rolls off him in waves, his wrist and elbows tingling, and Baekhyun casts.

Minseok’s warmth moves away at the end of the spell, and Baekhyun’s too afraid to look. He doesn’t want to see another failed dog, he’s already started to imagine the barking loaf.

Something licks him on the chin, and his eyes snap open.

“Oh! It’s a real puppy!” Baekhyun says, leaning forward and wrapping the dog in the warmest hug. He draws back so he can look at it properly, his hands shaking with glee. He can’t believe it worked. It looks somewhere in between a labrador and a pug, the face a little squashed, but Baekhyun loves it.

The dog noses against Baekhyun’s wrist, heavy paws looking to climb out of Baekhyun’s lap and explore.

“I’m going to the park! Wish me luck, hyung!” Baekhyun yells, already running for the door before the spell runs out.

∪ 'ㅅ' ∪

Baekhyun makes it halfway to the park before he’s holding a brioche bun on a leash, but that doesn’t dampen his good mood any. He stops by Kyungsoo’s bakery and buys ten types of bread, ducking out before Kyungsoo can judge him for his life decisions.

For the rest of the day, he transforms each bun into a new type of dog, timing the minutes before they turn back into food. The first few ones barely last ten minutes, but as Baekhyun learns from his mistakes, the next dog sits in his lap for nearly half-an-hour, licking Baekhyun’s elbow.

Jongdae comes home somewhere between dog four and five, and gathers a miserable Tan onto his lap, laughing at the cat’s annoyed expression. The dogs wander the living room with very limited coordination, bumping into furniture and yipping noisily.

“Good grief,” Minseok says, stepping in an hour later, at the peak of Baekhyun’s attempts.

“I’m nearly finished,” Baekhyun assures Minseok with his nicest smile. The terrier under his palm squeaks loudly and turns back into a muffin. Another one climbing the table falls off and returns to panini-form.

Minseok shakes his head, rescuing both Tan and Jongdae from the bread circus. Baekhyun plays with the three remaining dogs until their time runs out, and falls asleep on the carpet after, exhausted.

∪ 'ㅅ' ∪

The next day off, Baekhyun buys the longest-lasting dog-breads and unfortunately finds out that regardless of his experiments, the dogs don’t last very long past the front door.

The combined leftover magic from everyone in the household probably helped fuel the little dog show the other day, but outside the house, every dog Baekhyun takes for a walk ends up yeast again before the man can notice them.

Baekhyun sits on the park bench across from the fountain with the sourdough, watches the man talk to an endless parade of dogs, and wishes.

Three days of moping Baekhyun later, Minseok drops a puppy with Tan’s scowling face into his lap.

“You owe me two bags of cat food,” Minseok says. “You better bring my cat back unharmed.”

“Oh my god,” Baekhyun says, and takes off towards the park in a sprint.

∪ 'ㅅ' ∪

The fountain is missing when Baekhyun arrives at the park. Baekhyun backtracks to the trees again, wondering if he’d gotten the wrong square. But the directions are right even though the square is wrong, and Baekhyun stands at the edge of the clearing with Tan in his arms, blinking in confusion.

Damn parallel worlds, Baekhyun thinks. Christ.

He retraces his steps several times, finding park benches in trees, roses growing out of vending machines, and a signboard with the words all scrambled up. But there’s no fountain, and no fountain-man.

“You’re so annoying!” Baekhyun yells. Magic can be the worst.

He gives up, sitting on a floating park bench and making it sink to the ground, like a normal bench would.

He releases Tan, who with the nimbleness of a cat and the body of a dog, leaps onto the nearest tree and scales it, before plopping down onto a vertical bench.

“Uh,” Baekhyun says inelegantly.

It’s over an hour before he gets the cat back down.

∪ 'ㅅ' ∪

Baekhyun’s most successful dog is a simple loaf corgi, and on the best day Baekhyun unleashes six fluffy dogs, wandering the halls and poking their noses into everything.

In a sudden burst of magical adrenalin, he manages to take three of them to the park in the span of a week.

But for all three days, the fountain remains empty.

Corgi-number-seventeen, as though sensing Baekhyun’s disappointment, flops onto his lap and licks his knee through the ripped patch in his jeans.

Fortunately, being at the park with a cute dog isn’t a disaster. He sits with the corgi for a good ten minutes, teaching it to play fetch with a twig he picks off the ground.

“I had fun,” Baekhyun tells it, lifting the loaf into his arms once the time has run out.

And even though Baekhyun doesn’t get a phone number or a date, the day doesn’t turn out quite so bad after all.

∪ 'ㅅ' ∪

With all the magic in the air, Baekhyun accidentally begins practicing spells in his sleep, waking up every morning feeling wrung-out.

Eventually, all his experiments have expended even his deepest reserves of magical energy, which leaves Baekhyun with his final and most useless housemate, Jongdae.

“I’m glad to see our degree of importance to you is not our dashing personalities but whether or not we own a pet,” Jongdae says dryly.

Baekhyun flops onto his stomach, legs dangling off the studio couch.

“I hate to break it you, but your personality isn’t winning you any prizes either.”

“Maybe he’s not a fan of banana bread pretending to be dogs,” Jongdae says reasonably, rolling over on his chair and patting Baekhyun’s back. Baekhyun’s head is throbbing, and it isn’t just because of the magic.

“Why don’t you buy a dog?” Baekhyun whines, when Jongdae scrapes him off the studio floor and drives him home. “You’d be good with them.”

“When I have a larger-than-life pet right here all for myself? Why would I ever?”

Baekhyun cocks his head, trying to squint at Jongdae through the fog in his brain. Jongdae sighs and fishes the house keys out of his pocket.

“I’m not going to buy a dog just so you can use him as a wingman,” Jongdae says. “Now go to bed, you reek of desperate magic.”

“I’m a desperate magician,” Baekhyun sings mournfully, as Jongdae throws him into bed and tucks him in, “desperate for love and a rabbit in a hat.”

∪ 'ㅅ' ∪

Jongdae’s power is reducing innocent passerbys to tears, although some say it’s his voice of gold. Baekhyun finds out Jongdae’s true ability, though, when he comes home that weekend with two soft poodles in his arms.

“Kyungsoo says you have to return them by four,” Jongdae says, handing the leashes over to a disbelieving Baekhyun.

“Kyungsoo lent you his dogs?” Baekhyun asks in a hushed whisper. “He won’t even let me touch the photograph of them he keeps in his wallet.”

“Who’s the best roommate now?” Jongdae winks.

∪ 'ㅅ' ∪

Baekhyun swears to himself that there’ll be no hesitation this time. He’s going to march up to the fountain and introduce himself, and the man will coo over Kyungsoo’s puppies, and Baekhyun will say something witty and find out once and for all if he stands a chance.

The birds are singing, the flowers in full bloom, and Meokmul and Huchu tangle around Baekhyun’s legs happily, excited to be out on a walk.

There’s no one talking to the man today, and his legs are folded beneath him, eyes scanning the park for someone to talk to. For a moment, Baekhyun holds his breath as the man’s eyes rest on a girl with a cocker spaniel, but then he passes over her, turns and—

Their eyes meet.

Baekhyun’s heart soars, unable to hide his blinding smile. Meokmul and Huchu follow agreeably behind him, and Baekhyun heads straight for the man. He smiles back widely, and he pats the ledge of the fountain beside him, inviting Baekhyun to sit.

Three feet away, the sky goes dark as though cut by an eclipse.

Baekhyun’s soaked before he even realizes it’s raining, the sudden downpour as unnatural as they come.

The man gives Baekhyun an wry smile and runs for cover, joining the other park-goers in their chaotic dash towards the nearest shelter. Rain pelts down around them, drenching Baekhyun in an instant.

It’s not fair; the weather had been good, the forecast clear. The whole week has been stupidly wrong, and Baekhyun casts a quick umbrella over them and tries to rush Kyungsoo’s precious loan out of the rain.

Luckily, Kyungsoo’s cafe isn’t far, and he lets himself in through the back door, toweling the dogs dry with a dishcloth before looking for one for himself. Kyungsoo walks into the room just as Baekhyun sneezes, and he digs around the shelves until he finds a proper towel to toss to Baekhyun.

“I’m guessing you didn’t get that number?” Kyungsoo says, bending down to greet his puppies with kisses.

Kyungsoo grabs whatever he came in for and the door swings shut again, leaving Baekhyun with the poodles, who have curled up beneath the warm oven to dry off. Smart dogs. Baekhyun follows suit, stripping off his shirt and socks, hanging them up by the oven door.

The door pushes open again. Kyungsoo stares at him, looking like he has plenty to say about Baekhyun’s state, but miraculously holds his tongue. Instead, he says, “Your crush just walked in.”

“What?” Baekhyun says, taken aback. His hair is soaked and plastered to his face, and he’s shirtless and barefoot. It figures that the man would show up at this very moment. Baekhyun feels damp and miserable and quite frankly, defeated. Maybe the world _is_ trying to tell him something.

“His name is Junmyeon,” Kyungsoo says, holding up the notepad where he’d scribbled an order. Junmyeon’s order, for a strawberry tart and a slice of peach pie.

 _A man of taste_ , Baekhyun thinks proudly.

“Do you want to take his food out to him?” Kyungsoo asks. “Maybe after you’ve put your shirt back on.”

Baekhyun just withers to the floor in response. It’s testament to how awful Baekhyun must look that Kyungsoo doesn’t even ask again.

“I’ll serve him,” Kyungsoo says. “Just heat them up for me, okay?”

It’s final, then. He isn’t fated to meet Junmyeon, and Baekhyun’s no quitter, but he does know when to call it quits. He looks out the peephole, finding where Junmyeon is sitting and watches as he brushes his damp bangs out of his face and glances around the store curiously.

Baekhyun grabs his shirt and almost walks out to introduce himself, stubbornly ignoring fate’s plans. As he’s lingering by the door, a sneeze builds in his throat and gets stuck somewhere in his nose.

“Okay, okay!” Baekhyun groans thickly, pinching his nose. “I get the message!”

But it doesn’t stop Baekhyun from leaning over the pastries and giving them an extra dosage of sweetness, freshness and warmth. Maybe today at least one of them can be happy.

∪ 'ㅅ' ∪

After the incident, Baekhyun stops borrowing dogs and transfiguring breads, catching up on tv shows and getting some rest after the few weeks of intensive spells.

He doesn’t go to the park again, and having given up on Junmyeon makes him feel unreasonably lonely, considering he never had Junmyeon before either. He locks himself in his room, not wanting to deal with the others’ questions, and spends a lot of time flipping through Jongdae’s old tarot deck and wondering what the universe has in store for him.

Every other evening, Kyungsoo leaves a paper bag of loaves by the counter for Baekhyun to take back to the house, his tiny bakery business keeping the household alive far longer than any of them have done by their own means.

Some days, Baekhyun sneaks a couple of rolls into his bedroom. He spells himself another puppy once he’s feeling better, just to play with. There are plenty of pets at the house, but Baekhyun’s never had one that was just his.

He likes it more than he thought he would.

One dog becomes two, three, and soon enough Baekhyun is taking home a loaf of bread practically every day, conjuring himself a puppy companion.

It’s late one Saturday afternoon when Baekhyun wakes up to something licking his face. He doesn’t remember dozing off.

“Mongryong?” He mumbles, reaching out to pet. It’s soft and crumbly, with not a single trace of fur. It’s a loaf of bread.

Baekhyun cracks open his eyes, and Vivi slides off the bed, satisfied. The loaf of bread doesn’t move, and Baekhyun closes his eyes again. Mongryong barely generates any warmth, but Baekhyun pretends he can feel the leftover heat on the bed beside him.

He only stirs awake when there’s a knock on the door, several minutes later.

It’s Sehun, and he looks surprised to find Baekhyun.

“Kyungsoo said you brought a loaf home today, what’s going on? Aren’t you going out to the park? What happened to Junmyeon?”

Baekhyun shakes his head. He doesn’t want to think about how pathetic he looks, lying in bed with a loaf of bread.

The bed dips and Sehun sits down beside him without saying a word.

“I thought I wanted a boyfriend,” Baekhyun says, staring blankly at the ceiling. If he really tries, he can still imagine Mongryong pressed up against his side. “But I think I want a dog.”

Sehun picks Mongryong up, the puppy practically no weight at all. Baekhyun doesn’t turn his head to see what he’s doing.

“We can see about getting you a real dog, huh, Baekhyunnie?” Sehun says. “You know Jongin would take your case any time.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Baekhyun says. “I’ll think about it.”

The bed squeaks as Sehun stands up, patting Baekhyun’s thigh in comfort. He places a warm weight onto Baekhyun’s chest, dusting the flour off his fingertips. Mongryong wriggles happily and curls up, tucking his head under Baekhyun’s chin.

With Sehun’s magic, he’ll last another hour, if Baekhyun’s lucky.

Baekhyun runs his fingers through Mongryong’s fur, inhaling.

A little bit of dog, and a little bit of bread. That’s the kind of dog Baekhyun wants, and the kind he’ll never get to keep.

∪ 'ㅅ' ∪

Mongryong is soft and affectionate even for a dog, cuddling up to Baekhyun and following him dutifully about the house. Chanyeol watches them, Toben breaking Olympic speed records in the background, and sighs wistfully.

“Let’s go for a walk,” He calls. “It would be nice to walk a dog peacefully for once.”

Toben hears the word ‘walk’ and materializes like magic on Chanyeol’s lap.

“You’re not invited,” Chanyeol says, and Toben licks his nose.

Baekhyun almost refuses, knowing that Mongryong’s time will run out quicker outside the confines of the house. But the idea of taking Mongryong out on a playdate with another puppy is too cute to refuse.

Six minutes into the walk, Chanyeol is yanked into a side alley by Toben, and Baekhyun loses track of them both. Baekhyun rolls his eyes, crouching beside the pavement to let Mongryong sniff at the row of bluebells in someone’s garden.

“Hey,” A voice says, and Baekhyun scrambles aside quickly, tugging Mongryong back.

He opens his mouth to apologize, and finds himself staring at Junmyeon.

“It’s a dog day today, then,” He says, smiling at Baekhyun.

Baekhyun’s brain short-circuits. Junmyeon isn’t dressed in his usual crisp button-up, wearing only a soft pink t-shirt and shorts. His slippers are a bit too large for him, and he looks like he just stepped out of his house for a second to pick up the mail.

Baekhyun realizes, that without meaning to, he’s found fountain-man’s home.

“Huh?” Baekhyun says belatedly.

“You’re the dog-walker,” Junmyeon says. “I always see you at the park with different types of dogs. And a cat once, too, I think. My name is Junmyeon.”

Baekhyun shakes Junmyeon’s hand and introduces himself, frozen stiff. Mongryong’s wandered off, tugging at the end of the leash as he tries to traipse deeper into Junmyeon’s garden.

Without warning, Junmyeon crouches down beside Baekhyun, elbows resting on his knees. Baekhyun catches a whiff of lavender.

Mongryong runs to Junmyeon immediately, resting his paws on Junmyeon’s bended thighs. Baekhyun holds his breath as Junmyeon sticks out a hand to pet the dog’s fluffy body, praying that Mongryong is minimally doughy.

“And who is this?”

“His name is Mongryong,” Baekhyun says, torn between watching Junmyeon’s face and trying to make sure his dog remains a dog. The air feels thick, swimmy with magic.

“Cute,” Junmyeon says, his smile making his face scrunch up. Baekhyun wants to sit in that bed of bluebells with Junmyeon forever.

“I was wondering what you’d walk through the park next,” Junmyeon says.

“You know me, friend of all animals,” Baekhyun says nervously, brain whirring at a hundred miles a minute. He’s fishing through his head for one of his canine pickup lines, something Minseok-approved, and absently notices that the tension in his leash is completely gone. Baekhyun casts his gaze towards Mongryong, and pales.

“Look at the time, I’ve got to go!” Baekhyun squeaks, without having glanced at a clock at all. He yanks Mongryong away, making a mad dash off with the dog in his arms, before Junmyeon looks down and realizes he’s been petting a loaf of bread.

∪ 'ㅅ' ∪

Baekhyun can’t get the conversation out of his head. He replays Junmyeon’s gentle “I was wondering what you’d walk through the park next” in his head over and over again, trying to figure out how much wondering Junmyeon had done. Had he wondered about Baekhyun over breakfast? Several times a day while brushing his teeth? Or had it been a one-time thing?

Baekhyun thinks about it all day, over breakfast, while he’s brushing his teeth, and more.

The other occupants of the house, whether or not they would like to be, are also subjected to the insurmountable question.

“Please, for just one morning, I’d like to eat breakfast in peace,” Minseok says, massaging his temples. “If you’re not making the air taste like sulphur, you’re turning pancakes into poodles, or scheming over a boy you’ve talked about three sentences to. Baekhyunnie, hush.”

Baekhyun sulks, reaching for another slice of toast.

“You should go for it,” Sehun whispers to Baekhyun, holding a hand to his mouth. “I can lend Vivi to you again.”

“Oh, I don’t think Mongryong likes that,” Chanyeol interrupts, staring at Baekhyun.

“What?” Baekhyun says, following Chanyeol’s gaze. He looks down to find himself buttering a wriggling puppy.

With a surprised noise, he quickly draws the knife away. The dog leaps off his lap and runs straight for Toben’s squeaky ball.

There goes breakfast, and Minseok’s peace is shattered.

∪ 'ㅅ' ∪

Now that Junmyeon is back in the picture, Baekhyun’s bread-circus returns with a vengeance. He’s almost never without a dog or two, and Jongdae grumbles about his lunch going missing more than once.

The recipe claims to be able to last longer, even permanent, but no matter how hard he tries, Baekhyun can’t get it right.

The longest dog lasts three hours within the four walls of the house, and leaves Baekhyun so drained afterwards his vision has gone fuzzy. He scares Chanyeol half-to-death by crawling into Chanyeol’s room and eating some of the reserve chocolate that he knew Chanyeol kept under his bed.

“Take a break, okay?” Chanyeol says, stroking Baekhyun’s hair and showing him the second secret compartment of chocolate, spilling the options across the blanket.

“Do you ever think that maybe you should talk to him without a dog?”

“Maybe,” Baekhyun mumbles.

He wakes up on Monday feeling like only a third of himself, but still wobbles over to Kyungsoo’s bakery in the morning for work. He makes it to the end of his shift in a dreamlike trance, and when he’s done, grabs the loaves that Kyungsoo’s left out for him.

“Are you going to the park?” Kyungsoo asks, sliding a free coffee under Baekhyun’s nose.

“No,” he mumbles, downing the drink like a shot.

“Good,” Kyungsoo says, and pats Baekhyun on the head. “The bag’s a little full today since I gave you some extras, but they’re not for transfiguring, you hear? Now go home and get some rest.”

“Yes, Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun says obediently.

He cuts through the fountain square anyway, because it’s right by Kyungsoo’s bakery, and for the first time, feels relieved that Junmyeon isn’t there. Baekhyun sits at a bench, tucking his knees to his chest and watches the other dogs play.

The bag of bread by his side feels heavier than usual, and not just because of Kyungsoo’s generosity. A little corgi skips past Baekhyun’s feet, and Baekhyun’s fingers twitch against the opening of the bakery bag.

“Is it a corgi again today?” Someone asks, and Baekhyun startles, looking up.

It’s Junmyeon, and of course it is.

Baekhyun stares at him for a long time, unable to comprehend Junmyeon’s question. The corgi from before has long since trotted off, and Baekhyun has no idea what Junmyeon is talking about, and so patiently waiting on the answer for.

“What?”

Junmyeon nods towards the brown paper bag, where a heart-shaped loaf is peeking out, escaped from its wrappings. It’s a bit of a stretch, but Baekhyun can see how Junmyeon had mistaken it for a puppy in hiding.

Baekhyun lets out all the air through his nose.

“Um, yes. He’s definitely a corgi— who is asleep. Hence, you know, the bag,” Baekhyun says.

“Can I pet him?” Junmyeon asks, hovering uncertainly over the bench.

Baekhyun bites down on his lower lip, tempted to let Junmyeon sit and spill the truth.

Maybe Junmyeon really likes bread, too. Baekhyun’s learned a lot working with Kyungsoo, and he isn’t terrible at baking. In fact, he’s much better at baking than he is at a lot of other things. Like making dogs out of yeast, for example.

“When he wakes up,” Baekhyun says cautiously, and Junmyeon visibly deflates. He still hasn’t sat down, and shifts awkwardly, clearly about to excuse himself.

“No, please sit,” Baekhyun says quickly, “You can pet, but I don’t actually own a dog. They belong to my housemates.”

“You sure have a lot of housemates,” Junmyeon says. He sits, and Baekhyun’s heart rejoices for a split second before his brain catches up to what he just said. Junmyeon peers into the paper bag, lips parting to form a confused ‘oh’ before turning back to Baekhyun. “That doesn’t look like the dog I thought it was.”

Kyungsoo tells him he has no verbal filter, and Baekhyun has even less when he’s tired and Junmyeon is staring at him with those concerned eyes. He ends up telling Junmyeon all of it, about the first time he saw Junmyeon at the park and the following attempts to get his number, about the spell he found on the university website and all the little dogs that he’d tried to make.

“You only ever look at people with dogs. So I thought if I had one with me that would finally give me a chance,” Baekhyun says.

He dares to look up, and finds a crease in Junmyeon’s brows.

“I’m sorry,” Baekhyun says. The whole situation is a wreck, and Baekhyun wouldn’t be surprised if Junmyeon never wanted to speak to him again. Baekhyun’s plans had been silly from the beginning, and all he has to show for it now is man who thinks he’s mad and a yearning for a dog he’ll never have.

“Stand up,” Junmyeon says. Baekhyun isn’t familiar enough with Junmyeon to know if he’s angry, but he doesn’t sound angry. Junmyeon picks up the bag of loaves, and beckons for Baekhyun to follow him.

Confused, Baekhyun trails after him, if only to retrieve their breakfast.

Junmyeon leads him to his home.

“I’m sorry,” Baekhyun says. The bed of bluebells sway gently in the wind, and Junmyeon holds the gate open for him. “I don’t think—”

“That spell you found, do you remember who patented it?” Junmyeon asks.

“Uh, Kim something. Kim Jun—” Baekhyun sees Junmyeon staring at him, and the impossible clicks into place. “Kim Junmyeon?”

Junmyeon laughs, patting Baekhyun’s hand. “That’s right. Now, if you’re still sure about it, let’s make you a proper flour dog, shall we?”

∪ 'ㅅ' ∪

“Honestly?” Junmyeon says, twenty minutes later. They’re sitting in Junmyeon’s workshop, cluttered from floor to ceiling with glass jars and unbound texts. “I only kept looking at dogs because I’m working on a new spell. I can transfigure bread into dogs, but I think I also found a way to turn dogs into bread.”

 _Why would you ever need a spell like that,_ Baekhyun wants to ask, but he’s too mesmerized with the corgi lazing by his crossed legs, his hands constantly running through the fur to make sure that Mongryong’s still there.

“Thank you,” Baekhyun breathes, and Junmyeon’s smile is fond.

“You’re welcome, Baekhyunnie.”

Junmyeon’s fingers wrap around Baekhyun’s, and Mongryong climbs into Baekhyun’s lap, making himself comfortable. He’s warm. They both are.

“Now that you have a dog,” Junmyeon says, “About that date…”

∪ 'ㅅ' ∪

A few days later, there’s a knock on Sehun’s door.

“So, my favourite dongsaeng, bestest boy and the most generous person I know,” Baekhyun says, grinning broadly up at Sehun. There’s someone behind him, and a living bread-dog in his arms.

“What could you possibly want now? You have both your boyfriend and your dog,” Sehun grumbles.

“May we borrow Vivi so we can turn him into a loaf of bread?” Baekhyun asks. “We’ll turn him right back, I promise!”

Sehun closes the door in his face.

“We’ll try again later,” Baekhyun says, and laughing, Junmyeon kisses him.

**Author's Note:**

> ps junmyeon also has elemental magic and he made it rain in the park because he was excited, he apologizes to baekhyun for it later ;;;;
> 
> thank you for reading! against my better judgment, i now have a [cc](https://curiouscat.me/75iii).


End file.
